In the area of Salfit, harassment by settlers is a regular occurrence. They come to the villages, often late at night, to graffiti messages of hatred, and also vandalize cars and property. New settlements are being established frequently and are rapidly expanding.

Farris is a university teacher living in the village of Kufr al-Dik. He drove us to his land of Deir Samaan, a beautiful olive grove with panoramic views, and a complex of Roman ruins at it’s heart. It’s only a stone’s throw from his village, but we had to drive 15 minutes extra, as the occupation’s gate to the village’s main entrance has been closed for three weeks. This is a common practice of collective punishment inflicted by the army. Farris and the rest of the village were perplexed as to why they were being “punished” just now.

Up until now, it’s still possible to access Farris’ land, but one must pass the brand new constructions of Leshem, and an array of JCBs and cranes. Leshem appeared in 2010, and now hugs the west edge of Deir Saaman. It is the newest of many illegal settlements that now surround him. This year a further 1200 units were added.

Leshem, 1200 units built this year

“Leshem means Holy Rock in Hebrew. I think they used this name because I have a Roman castle on my land. They used bombs, a lot of bulldozers, and a lot of time to build Leshem. Construction has been constant since 2010 until now, and I suffer for this. There is a lot of dust because of this, so during the olive harvest I cannot collect the olives until the rain comes.”

Alei Zahhav intrusively overlooking the ruins of Farris’ land

Alei Zahhav, a settlement on the East side of Farris’ property, was established in 1983. It has now joined up with Leshem to the North, creating a large crescent of houses that have eaten into his land. “On the other side of the settlement, I have another piece of land with 300 olive trees. Now, because of the new constructions, I cannot come to my land because the road was closed. I need to go around the whole valley, and then more than 3km off road, through the valley, which is very bad for the car. So a lot of time is wasted and I have to get a tractor which is expensive.”

Alei Zahhav pinching the border of Farris’ land

He tells us that another huge impact from the Alei Zahhav settlement is the emptying of its sewage directly into the fields, which runs down the valley into his land. “Aside from being disgusting and affecting the trees, it is attracting many wild boars which are destroying everything I plant.”

In the midst of the interview a Settler nonchalantly strolled through the middle of Farris’ private property. Farris tells us that many of the ornately carved Roman stones have been destroyed by settlers. They often enter, vandalize the ruin, and also swim in his well occasionally.

The crescent has now expanded around to the South side of the property, with a new double fence, only a few weeks old, completely surrounding him. He was recently notified that he’ll soon be locked out from his olive trees and will have to obtain permission from the Israeli military to pass through. Based on previous cases, it’s likely he’ll only get permission for a few days a year to harvest olives.

“I opened a new agricultural road to come to my land because they destroyed the previous one. Now they’ve constructed a fence, which means that I will need a permit to come to my land. I have here 170 olive trees, and I recently planted 200 trees of other kinds. The restrictions mean these will be destroyed.”

Double fence recently installed

“Israel is annexing everything from the green line to the Jordan Valley. That is a big finger which cuts across the middle of the West Bank” he explains.

It’s clear that the settlements are being strategically planned and positioned.

Another settlement, Shalem to the south

“If you go to the high mountain and look around, to the West you will see Kafr Qasim, that’s the green line. From there the Israelis put settlements as a finger in the middle of the West Bank. All the mountains in that line have settlements on top, and they’re near to each other. If there is an Israeli city in the middle of the west bank there is no state of Palestine.”

The progression of annexation and dividing of the West bank

There are now 24 settlements in the Salfit area and only 18 Palestinian villages. Ariel, at the top of the valley from Farris’ land, with a population of around 20,000 is one of the largest settlements in the West Bank. “They want to make Ariel a city, all the settlements you can see refer to Ariel”.

Just bellow Ariel is a huge Israeli industrial area called Barkan. Palestinians have suffocating restrictions on what they can build. For example, they are prohibited from building industrial facilities. Whereas Israel has managed to flaunt International laws, and even Israeli laws, to establish these massive industrial zones, thus giving Israel evermore control over the region, and the Palestinian natives.

Barkan employs many Palestinians. At a time when unemployment is very high in the West Bank, the Palestinians take the work out of necessity, receiving much lower wages than their Israeli colleagues. Working for your illegal occupier is beyond humiliating, and gives rise to intense frustration. It’s not surprising that this forces people over the edge at times.

For land owners there is not always a choice. The accumulated obstructions and violent interventions take away the capacity to earn a living, forcing younger generations into accepting the low wages at Barkan. Traditional ways of village life are eroded, land is left untended, and therefore open to settler land-grabbing, as per Israeli law, and against international law. The objective is obvious, frustrate the occupants into leaving, or act out so as to be thrown into prison or worse, leaving the land empty.

Sewage and waste from all settlements, and the Barkan industrial complex, is emptied on to the fields of Palestinian farmers. This is causing a big loss of income, there are also significant cancer clusters within the villages of the valley below.

“I hope the Israeli people change their government because their government are terrorists to the Palestinian people. They don’t want peace, they lie all the time saying they do want peace, they lie about everything. They lie just to make the people keep wanting them. If the government wanted peace it would take ten minutes to do, we can start with 1967, but the Israeli government wants to take all of the land.”

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine continues. Dunum by dunum, village by village, house by house, the people of Palestine face a slow, systematic genocide in their homeland. Two houses were demolished in the south of the Jordan Valley, in the village of Fasayil, on Sunday morning. The Israeli government did not issue a warning. The village of 1,300 people has been facing Israeli assaults on their land since the early seventies, with the construction of two settlements on either side, and a huge farmland in front of them, all less than a kilometre away.

But it was in 2010 that the Israelis came and virtually destroyed the entire village of Fasayil al Wusta. The residents have, since then, built the village back up.

Hassan Mohammed Hussein A´Zayed built a house for his son, who suffers from mental disabilities, and is sensitive to hot weather. “That house cost me 15,000 shekels to build, not only because of building materials, but because of the air conditioning (unit),” he said. The house only lasted one year before it was bulldozed on Sunday, the AC unit along with it.

A few metres in front of the newly destroyed house, one can see at least three other piles of rubble that used to be housing units, all belonging to Hassan. This was the seventh time a house of his was demolished. “They keep destroying them. Sometimes with warning, sometimes not. It´s a random policy. There´s no way of knowing what they´re going to do.” Hassan has 8 children.

Aeman Rashaeda, father of four, whose wife teaches at the nearby school, was the next to lose his house, on the same road as Hassan´s. When the Israelis approached him, they told him that it was forbidden to build, and that he was living in a closed military firing zone.

When the complete destruction of the village took place 8 years ago, 10 families immediately fled. This is a village that receives only 1500 litres of water for each household per week; that can never get a permit to farm or build; that cannot dig a well deeper than 150 meters, enforced by Israeli occupation law.

Before the 1967 invasion of the West Bank, this village shared water from a natural spring 4 kilometers up a nearby mountain. It has, since then, been surrounded by 3 Israeli wells – the water now privatised – controlled for settler use. 60 percent of the Jordan Valley has been closed by the Israeli occupation for “military firing and security zone(s)”, but it´s been well known for years to have actually been used for agribusiness. Pick any one feature of the military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, and you will find a policy of theft, of racism, of genocide.

Once again, Palestinians exercised their right of free speech under international law, and once again, were encountered with tear gas and gunfire. Outside Nablus, demonstrations took place against the continuous construction of Israeli settlements and outposts, imprisonment of Palestinians- young and old- and the Trump administration’s declaration to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. At one point, when the Israeli assault settled, an activist was able to comment on the situation: “We refuse any attempts to make Al Quds a capital of this zionist state, which aims to divide our lands with the ‘Big Jerusalem Project’ or ‘E1 Plan,’ that will be used to connect Ma’aleh Adomim Settlement with Al Quds, through the Palestinian lands and towns, furthering the separation of our land into small cantons.” Constant infringement on rights, humiliation, and collective punishment of Palestiniansare at the core of this dreadful conflict, and have been the fuel for non-stop protests throughout the occupied West Bank for years. The most recent example of this systematic cruelty is Isra’a Al-Ja’abis, whose been in prison for 2.5 years, reportedly having been denied proper medical treatment for her severe burns that she got after her car exploded in 2015.

For every lull in violence by the police, came another eruption of tear gas and firing, pushing the protestors back by hundreds of meters. Both Internationals showing solidarity, and the press, avoided rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades. One Palestinian was injured by a live sniper-bullet, reportedly to have been bleeding profusely from his leg. “He’s been taken to the hospital for treatment, and we don’t have updates on his condition.”

]]>51701Urif: the struggle to studyhttps://palsolidarity.org/2018/11/urif-the-struggle-to-study/
Sat, 24 Nov 2018 13:04:04 +0000https://palsolidarity.org/?p=51613Urif, the 21th of November

Urif is a small Palestinian village perched on the top of a hill, not far from Nablus. The view is beautiful and clear, overlooked by another scenic hill. A longtime resident tells us that before the 1980s, the locals used to go for walks and picnics in the area, but since the illegal settlers seized it, it has not been possible or safe to walk in this area. No one would dare go too close to the area because the settlers are very dangerous. “The most dangerous of all the West Bank, with those of Kyriat Arbat, in Khalil [Hebron]” says the guardian of the school we met. He adds that settlers from Kyriat Arbat come to join those of Yitzar to attack the surrounding villages on a regular basis.

In the horizon, Yitzar Settlement haunts the school playground

Established in 1983, Yitzar is home to a religious extremist community that has expanded in recent years. The arrival of young settlers has increased the attacks over the past five years. “And it gets worse from year to year,” he explains. The Israeli authorities’ dismantling of the Baladim forward post in June 2017, considered too violent and extremist even by the Israeli authorities, led to an influx of young settlers in Yitzar. However, they do nothing to prevent recurring criminal attacks against Palestinians. In Urif, the last building of the village before the colony, is the boys’ college. So here you never know if students will be able to study until 1:30 pm, the end time of their school day. Ayed Al Qot, the director of the college explains that since September, the staff has been forced to evacuate the establishment seven times. The situation is worse than last year. Behind his desk are tear gas bombs, sound bombs and rubber coated steel bullets collected from the school courtyard. He keeps them there as evidence of their painful, absurd daily life.

Sound bombs, rubber coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters.

Every day, there is always an overwhelming anxiety at the thought that the settlers may arrive and throw stones at the college. In these cases, the guardian of the establishment warns the teachers, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and contacts the inhabitants of the village and the Palestinian Police (who never comes, he adds). The students return the stones at the settlers and the inhabitants come to join them to defend the school and the village. Soldiers who watch the settlers attacks from afar come to suppress the Palestinians’ response. Tear gas, sound bombs, rubber coated bullets and even live ammunition. Less than two weeks ago, fifty settlers attacked the school. Several students were shot and wounded and taken to the hospital. It’s hard to know if the shootings came from settlers or the army, says Ayed Al Qot. One thing is certain, killing people does not seem to be a problem for these settlers, and it has happened several times.

Ayed Al Qot, the director of the college in his office.

Last Monday, it was at dawn that they attacked, which resulted in the school not even be able to open. The clashes lasted more than five hours. So in the face of these constant attacks, school drop-out is high, much higher than in other villages, explains the director. And the program is hard to keep. When the school is attacked, classes are cancelled and students are sent home. During class, young boys find it hard to concentrate, paying more attention to movements from outside than from their teacher. The teaching team is therefore considering alternatives to ensure that they can follow all the lessons; give lessons in the afternoon and on weekends in the center of the village for example. She would also like support to build a security fence and install a roof over part of the playground. So many solutions being put forward, but in the face of a situation where nobody is there to protect the students and put an end to the terror policy of the young settlers, it is hard to know what can really be done to stop the attacks. Some parents surrender and decide to change the school their child attends, but this is not an option for many of the parents.

Everyday, the guard makes a tour of the college before the students arrive to be sure that no colonist has entered. When the classes begin, he places himself on the roof of the school or on the road in front of the building. Teachers regularly ask him if the settlers are on the way, constantly worried. This makes is difficult for the students to study but also for the teachers to teach affectively in such an environment.

A settler scouts a Palestinian school in Urif, to prepare an eventual attack.

That day, we see settlers at the top of the hill. The guard warns residents and the information circulates quickly. Cars go back and forth to see the evolution of the situation. A parent tells us that he leaves his job almost daily to come, as soon as he learns that settlers are in the area. Difficult to imagine the daily life of these people, immersed in endless waiting. Several hours pass, a man from the security service of the colony observes us from the hill, armed. There are silhouettes of settlers, sticks in hand, then they disappear. The wait continues. At 13:30, the school bell rings, luckily they have not been attacked today, leaving a little respite to the students, teachers and parents.

In Palestine, time seems sometimes suspended. People are constantly waiting.

They are waiting for settler attacks, without knowing when they will take place. They are waiting for the Israeli police to demolish their houses when they are built in zone C “illegally”, because of the lack of permits issued by the Israeli authorities. They wait at checkpoints, subject to the goodwill of Israeli soldiers to let them pass through. They are also waiting for the release of loved ones, sometimes without knowing when they will be released. Then of course there is always the expectation and hope that of one day their land with be liberated and free of the occupation.

Fourteen years ago the Israeli Government closed the road between Kafr Qaddum and Nablus, extending the distance to 14 km, effectively making what would be a 15 minute journey for the villagers, into 40 minutes. The protests began in 2011 to reopen the illegal roadblock, and have continued every Friday and Saturday since then.

Israeli snipers were inside the village

Today’s protest, as always, began after prayer. Immediately, the soldiers started firing live rounds, rubber bullets, and tear gas.

The coordinator of the demonstration, Murad Eshtewi, was hit with a live round in the right thigh. After being transferred to an ambulance, a fellow demonstrator took his place, speaking into the megaphone.

In response to the tear gas and gunfire, the youth began throwing stones – deemed by Israel as a crime punishable up to 20 years in prison.

Several internationals were present, including those from ISM, IWPS, and the Press. A 65-year-old Italian national – a volunteer with ISM – was shot in her left thigh by a rubber-coated steel bullet. “I was just standing there,” she recalls, “It was good that I was turned away. I could’ve been shot in the knee.” Another young boy was also shot in the leg, and was carried off into an ambulance, reportedly in shock.

This attack on another peaceful demonstration against the illegal road block, only confirms the increase in aggression by the army. Discouraging protest by the Palestinians, and international solidarity thereof, is the only take-away from an attack like this. “They used less bombs and tear gas… But they used more bullets,” another demonstrator states.

Demonstrations by Palestinians and Internationals are expected to continue for this Saturday, and the following weekends.

Burin is a small village located seven kilometres to the southwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, and is home to around 3000 people. The village is surrounded by multiple illegal Israeli settlements, and is subjected to constant violent settler attacks and raids by Israeli forces.

For the past nine years, the village has been hosting an annual kite festival for its residents and their friends and families. The festival is one of the biggest yearly events in the village and is looked forward to by children and adults alike.

Residents of Burin gather on top of the hill outside the village to fly their kites (photo: ISM)

With burning kites being flown by demonstrators from Gaza into Israel as part of the Great Return March, this years display in Burin was particularly poignant. The Great Return March has been protesting the 11 year siege of the strip by Israel.

International Solidarity Movement activists spoke to 21 year old Yasmeen Mustafa Waleed Najjar, the first Arab amputee to climb the highest peak in Africa and one of the organisers of the festival, about what the annual celebration means to the local community.

21 year old Yasmeen Mustafa Waleed Najjar, one of the organisers of the festival (photo: ISM)

“Our village is surrounded by settlements from all angles, as you can see. We fly our kites every year to prove that this is our land. Even if we can’t go there ourselves, our kites fly over the invisible borders and reach what we cannot. We have been organising this festival for nine years, to resist the occupation and show Israel that we are strong inside and out. We can still have fun days in the mountains under their occupation, with music, food and games, bringing joy to our children.

Palestinians fly home made kites at the festival (photo: ISM)

“The idea started as a form of peaceful resistance. Zionist settlers and occupation forces regularly come inside my village to attack us or cause problems. Settlers killed one of my classmates when I was at school, and they come into our houses at night – I remember many times that they entered my house when my family was asleep. They also kill our animals and do a lot of terrible things.

“There is a checkpoint near the village school that my brother and sister study at. The settlers entered the school, protected by soldiers, pushing the students into the classrooms and locking the doors. The occupation has put up watchtowers and fences in close proximity to the school. I remember my younger brother telling me one day, ‘I don’t want to go to school anymore because they always come. I don’t want to go.’

A young girl watches a kite as her father looks on (photo: ISM)

“The village comes together to organise the kite festival to make joy for the children and have fun all together. We stand in solidarity with our community and the Palestinians everywhere who live under this occupation. I volunteer with many organisations, and we do everything to support our people and show the world what is happening here. We are showing the beauty of Palestine to the hearts of others, regardless of the occupation. We invite people from all around, including national groups from my university.

“All the boys in the village make their kites together in the week before the festival. It’s a skill that’s passed down through the generations – their older brothers teach them, and when they are older they teach their younger brothers. It’s become a really easy thing for our kids, and a fun activity to do together and a way to enjoy time with friends and family. It’s a game all of us play – everyone can fly a kite here.

Women watch the festivities from the top of the hill (photo: ISM)

“I was young when the festival started. I remember one year, lots of solders came when we started flying kites on the mountain. They stopped the festival and sent us all back home. We waited for an hour, then all came back and continued to fly our kites! I came with my brothers and sisters and we flew a kite that we had made. It was amazing.

“I can’t remember exactly when I started to get involved with arranging the festival. It was a long time ago. From the age of 11 or 12, the children of our community participate in everything that can bring positivity to our village.”

To keep updated about the village of Burin, visit their Facebook page All for Burin

]]>51011Palestinian and International activists plant olive saplings on village land ordered for confiscation by Israel in Burinhttps://palsolidarity.org/2018/03/palestinian-and-international-activists-plant-olive-saplings-on-village-land-ordered-for-confiscation-by-israel-in-burin/
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 20:10:59 +0000http://palsolidarity.org/?p=5060017/03/2018| International Solidarity Movement

Palestinians and International activists successfully planted dozens of olive saplings in the north of West Bank in the village of Burin near Nablus. Palestinians and Internationals together laid pictures of prominent activists in front of the planted saplings, some of these activists were killed by the Israeli army others are Palestinian political Prisoners.

The action was organized by The Popular Struggle Committee but was also attended by Yahia Kadous the head of the municipal council in Burin, activists from Arab Group For The Protection Of Nature, International Solidarity Movement, Stop The Wall and The Enlightenment Forum Tanwer.

The meeting point for today’s action was at the secondary school in Burin, the same school that was attacked three days in a row last week by the Israeli army. The Israeli army fired tear gas and stun grenades at school children on these days and many children and teachers suffered from tear gas inhalation. The army also filmed the children with a surveillance drone before entering the school on the last day of attack to issue a land confiscation order for around 26 dunums, which belongs to the school; this was the same area of land where the olive sapling action happened today. It is also worth mentioning that the Israeli army has seized 1,000 dunums of land belonging to the school in the past. Israel issued the school with a confiscation of land order for the development of a ‘security wall.’ A wall is often constructed so that more Palestinian land can be taken behind the wall by the Israeli state.

The village of Burin is surrounded by Jewish only settlements and is directly overlooked by the illegal settlement of Yitzar and numerous illegal settler outposts. Historically these outposts are first recognized by the Israeli state and then developed into permanent illegal settlements. The colonialist settlers from Yitzar are notoriously violent and have attacked the Palestinian villagers and property in Burin countless times often with the backing of the Israeli army.

Everyone gathered at the school in Burin at 11 am, A commemorative plaque was gifted to International Solidarity Movement from the Popular Struggle Committee honoring and in remembrance of Rachel Corrie. Rachel Corrie was killed fifteen years ago on the 16th of March whilst volunteering with International Solidarity Movement in Rafah Gaza attempting to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes when an Israeli bulldozer ran her over.

The army gathered at the top of the hill as the community and activists sang and chanted anti-occupation slogans whilst digging and planting olive saplings. Towards the end of the action, settlers also gathered at outposts but surprisingly the activists were not prevented from planting over a dozen olive saplings. Today’s action was hugely successful.

Wael Al Faqih who was present at the action today is active in the popular resistance and also a member of The Enlightenment Forum Tanwer.

Wael stated ” This Land was defended by the blood of the martyrs of the Palestinian people and the martyrs of International Solidarity Movement activists Rachel Corrie, Tom Hurdell and Vittorio Arrigoni In order to protect human rights and justice against imperialism, Zionism and colonialism.”

Those lost and politically imprisoned will forever be remembered as the struggle against occupation continues until Palestine is free.

Today local Palestinian citizens gathered in their village of Kafr Qaddum, protesting against the illegal Israeli settlement of Kadumim and the road blockage that inhibits access to their village. Israeli armed forces fired copious rounds of tear gas, stun grenades, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition. During the protest an 18-year old Palestinian man was hit in the shoulder by a rubber coated steel bullet.

Shortly after Friday prayer, Palestinian demonstrators marched towards the main road in Kafr Qaddum. Israeli armed forces were positioned on hills surrounding the village, immediately firing rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition at protesters. During the demonstration an 18-year old Palestinian man was hit by a rubber coated steel bullet in his shoulder, but was luckily not in need of hospitalization. The protests went on for about 3 hours where Israeli soldiers kept firing live ammunition as well as tear gas and stun grenades whilst advancing toward the village. An Israeli drone accompanied the soldiers on top of the hills surveying the area.

The villagers of Kafr Qaddum have had weekly protests since 2011 due to the closing of the main road in 2003 that now leads to the illegal settlement of Kadumim. This has had severe effects on the citizens of Kafr Qaddum and is a form of collective punishment, what was once a 15-minute drive to Nablus is now 40-minute drive.

This Sunday, 6 Israeli military jeeps with soldiers entered the village of Hares, southwest of Nablus, in order to raid three schools filled with kids of all ages. Around 10 AM about 20 Israeli soldiers tried to enter the school yards of the two high schools. The pupils were in between classes and all out in the school yard. The teachers managed to lock the gate, so the soldiers stopped and interrogated all the cars and the people passing in the street outside.

Being unable to enter, they then moved on the elementary school. Many of the children were scared and tried to go home, but the stressed out teachers managed to collect them in the classrooms, locking the gate to keep the soldiers out. The new Shabak officer of the region was leading the incursion.

That night, Ibrahim, a six-year old boy from the school came to sleep in his father Issa’s bed for the first time. “He always sleeps in his own bed”, Issa says to the ISMers meeting them. “He asked me if he won’t be able to go to school again tomorrow and when I asked him why he would think not he said ‘Cause the soldiers might come again’.” Issa then tried to convince his son that the soldiers wouldn’t come “But he then asked me ‘Who can guarantee that?’ and all I could do was to persuade him to go to school. He does not seem relaxed and still sleeps in my bed.”

Issa also emphasises how many kids in Hares and all around Palestine suffer from similar traumas. “For sure my son is not the only one reacting like this. There are many children having nightmares and wetting their beds every night as a reaction to the soldiers raiding their schools.”

A few years ago Israeli soldiers entered the schools daily. Around 1000 girls and boys met the soldiers every day, but after the village managed to bring up a case towards the Israeli military, the raids stopped. Now many villagers fear the children will once again get more traumatised.

Yesterday in Kfar Qaddum Israeli armed forces fired live ammunition at peaceful protesters, luckily without injuries. The 8th of February marked 30 years since Kfar Qaddum’s first march during the Intifada, when villager Abed al Baset Jumal was murdered by masked settlers. Locals gathered today in honor of Baset Jumal as well as in protest of a road blockage that inhibits access to their village; this road has been closed to locals since 2003. The soldiers also fired several rounds of rubber coated steel bullets, teargas and sound bombs.

The march started after the Friday prayer, with the local Boy Scout group accompanying protesters with drums up the main road. Israeli soldiers had positioned themselves on the hill between Kfar Qaddum and the illegal settlement of Kadumim, and before any confrontations started with the protesting youth, the soldiers started to fire live ammunition.

Local boy scouts group performs drum line to commence the protest.

Throughout the protest the military fired tear gas, sound bombs and rubber coated steel bullets, but as one of the protesters noted, “live ammunition hasn’t been used in this way for six years – fired so much, without any reason and directly at the protesters.”

A protester is throwing back a teargas canister fired by the Israeli army

Murad Shtawie, who is a community leader and organizer in Kfar Qaddum also told the ISM-ers how during the first intifada 30 years ago, the villagers of Kfar Qaddum had one of their first protests where 28-year old Abed al Baset Jumal was killed by masked settlers. Many protests were arranged in the West Bank during this time, and often met by consistent settler violence. On February 8th 1988, a bus with settlers approached the protest in the east of the village. The settlers were dressed in koffias speaking Arabic, and told the villagers they were on their side. When Abed approached to bid them welcome, one of them pulled a gun and killed him with two bullets – one in the head and one in the neck. The protesters also commemorated this yesterday.

The settler violence is ongoing to present day. About three days ago, settlers from the illegal settlement of Kadumim threw rocks at a farmer north of the village injuring him in the head. He is recovering in the hospital with six stitches.